By Joy Tanner
“I was born in exile.”
How could I not start this article off with that corker of a line? I’m sitting in an Italian restaurant with my beautiful friend, Maria del Mar, talking, laughing and, yes, even crying. Maria is the 2024 recipient of the ACTRA Award of Excellence, voted by her peers for her years of volunteerism with the union. She’s a two-term ACTRA Toronto Councillor, a former chair of the ACTRA Awards Committee and an alternate at the National Council table. Her incredible body of work can be found on her IMDb profile. Her candid, vulnerable and wonderfully humorous conversation encompassed her courageous battle with cancer, the depth of love for her family and what it means to be a master actor within the auspices of the union to which she belongs.
Maria recounts her decision to become an actor. “I was five years old, we had just moved to Canada (from Madrid by way of South America). I didn’t speak a word of English. My father was exiled from Venezuela because he planned a coup d’etat against a military dictatorship (during the Spanish Franco era).” He was offered a naval attaché position in Canada, which is code for, well, you guessed it; information gathering… Maria didn’t have a chance for a pedestrian life after that. She knew she had to be in a career that “made people feel.”
She breaks out into a Spanish accent, imitating her father, “‘Let’s go to Canada; it’s got snow, it’s peaceful, it has the cowboys in the red uniforms…’ and then the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) crisis happened and so we had to be escorted back and forth to school by the RCMP. I come from a long line of drama!” She bursts out laughing. It was an elementary school play that broke things open for her. “I don’t know how I ended up getting a part, or who thought it would be a good idea to give the little Latina girl who didn’t speak English a role, but I got up on stage and I looked at the crowd and I thought, OHHHH, I LOVE THIS!” More glorious laughter from my friend.
Fast forward to her professional career; Maria is the first Latina actress to be presented the Award of Excellence. Her body of work has been recognized with a 2001 Gemini nomination for Best Performance in Blue Murder, a 2007 ACTRA Award for Best Performance in the series Terminal City and accolades in 2011 for a Canadian Comedy Award in the film, Touch of Grey. But the Award of Excellence is an honour from a different forge; it’s given by her peers from the ACTRA Toronto Council table. She reflects, “It means a lot because Canada has a lot of talent! My peers know what is required of anyone to do the job and do it well. It’s humbling. It’s overwhelming and fantastic and glorious. It’s all of the above. Part of me is like, ‘did they make a mistake?’ and the other part is ‘damn right I did!’ It’s a nice mix of emotions. You think of all the people who have won the award in the past; I’m in amazing company! And those who are yet to come. AND, I’m the first Latina!”
While every actor’s journey is unique, Maria arrived at a time when productions were casting primarily white-presenting actors. Maria was an outlier. “I thought, I’m Latina, how can you not tell? My name is Maria del Mar. Of course, I look different, but I wasn’t different enough.” Casting couldn’t label her, “Are you Italian, are you Greek? What’s going on? So, I lightened my hair and I started working and I never stopped.” Her first professional gig was an “industrial” for the Government of Canada, in Ottawa where she was still living. It was her first television credit, The Child Saver in 1987, that initiated her real education. “Because I didn’t go to film school, I was so hyper aware of everything that was going on around me, so that I wouldn’t screw up. I didn’t have time to be in awe of anything. It wasn’t until I got home and I thought, ‘I did it! I fooled them!” More peals of laughter.
“Although the second audition I had after one of my first on-camera gigs, The Young and the Restless, a couple of casting directors told me to take acting lessons!” Giggles bubble over. Did I mention how funny Maria is?
Imposter Syndrome
The topic rears its ugly head. Ironic as this woman has worked continuously since the late ‘80s. “Absolutely I felt it! I think I was on my third or fourth series…” Now it’s my turn to start laughing. “Third or fourth series,” a dream of so many actors, which sets her apart in the challenging ecology of Canadian entertainment. Maria’s is the hallmark of a very fine career. She continues, “and I was told by someone, ‘honey, it’s been twenty-five years, get over it!’”
Yet it wasn’t until she stepped up on “the boards” at the Tarragon Theatre in Rosa LaBorde’s play, Light, that she truly felt legitimate. “If theatre actors can transition to film and television, why can’t I transition to stage? The fact that I was able to tell my fellow thespians that this was the second play I was about to do; they were all in shock and so kind, so supportive. I had so much fun. And I pulled it off!”
The conversation turns into a masterclass in craftwork. What’s the difference between stage and on-camera acting strategies? “You’re hyper aware of where the camera is set up. Whether it’s a close up or medium shot. And when I first started off, I was very expressive and I remember being told to ‘not react to anything. Just breathe.’ She brings up her character, Laura Crosby from Street Legal. I had to teach myself to sit on my hands in the court scenes and relax my eyebrows…! I’m not moving my eyebrows, I promise!” she tells a hypothetical d.o.p. She breaks out into a smile and continues, “In theatre, you have to know the entire play. And you have to be able to improvise in case you screw up!”
No improvising in film and television. “However, if there is a word or two that makes it yours, that makes it feel more real to you, then I say go for it. Because nine out of 10 times, the director is not going to stop you.” She starts to get passionate, “And truly, if there’s one thing that’s important for young actors to know, it is therein lies the magic; making [the role] yours. The second you do that, the character jumps off the page. By adding a giggle or a sigh, or an inhalation or repetition of a word, it brings the character to the words. It’s not just words on a page.” And this is what she has done for over 30 years.
Conversation turns to the tension young actors feel between going to university and an acting conservatory or jumping right into the business. It’s a topic that hits home, as her daughter Paloma is an up-and-coming actress. “I told her, finish school. Unless something extraordinary happens; you’re getting a lead in a series or a film… To be an actor, part of your toolkit is life experiences so you can refer back to them. Your ability to empathize, sympathize, communicate, create! You need life experiences in your toolkit. And what a way to do that, by going to school and travelling and meeting people and being put in situations you wouldn’t normally be in rather than copy something you haven’t experienced.”
The tone gets serious. “If there is anything else in the world you are passionate about, do it. Let this be the last option for you, because it’s not an easy road. It’s a path that’s filled with a lot of heartbreak and rejection and you’ve got to be tough and willing to take the knocks. If you think this is an easy path or you’re going to make an easy buck, you’re in it for the wrong reasons. If you want to be famous, you’re in it for the wrong reasons. Get famous for doing something more noble or interesting or important for humanity.”
If you are going to be an actor in Canada, then you ought to be working under the union banner. Maria explains why. “I remember thinking and feeling I’m now legitimate. ACTRA is the professional actors’ union. Think about that.” She repeats the statement. “It is the professional actors’ union. There’s an integrity and a pride that comes along with that. When you hire an ACTRA actor, it will be reflected in the quality of workmanship you receive. That’s the standard we need to hold and the standard I am part of. It’s pretty fantastic.”
Does she think she’s done her best work yet? “No. And that’s because I’m older now and I have more to draw on. I think with age comes wisdom and experience, larger toolkits, more compassion. Sometimes more righteous indignation, which is also valid. And opinions. Lots of opinions.”
Life Imitates Art
Her most challenging role to date? “Terminal City, that was sooo….” Her voice trails off. Maria played the lead, Katie Sampson whose character arc dealt with terminal cancer. “She was so damn naked all the time. And I don’t mean physically. I mean emotionally.” Maria, known for her beautiful tresses, shaved her head on camera for the role. I ask, “how do you protect yourself from those places of…” she interjects, “darkness and emotional rollercoasters?” She pauses. “This is a tough one.” She compares the ‘hit your mark and say your line’ methodology to ‘The Method.’ “I don’t apply to either of those extremes, but I apply everything in between. When I’m doing something that’s really heavy and dark, I have given myself permission to go to a dark place and use those emotions that I’ve saved up and let them out. So that’s what I tell myself.” Our conversation moves candidly to her battle with lung and breast cancer and the deaths of her mother and her son, Gabriel. Yet in spite of those recent devastations, she has continued to work steadily.
She’s currently doing voice work for Lego® DreamZzzzzz: Trials of the Dream Chasers in which she plays Mrs. Castillo. In May of 2024, she’ll direct and act in her short film, Pink Elephant that she co-wrote with Jo Vannicola. It’s another wonderful adventure that she will tuck into her toolbelt and draw upon for future projects.
We conclude by who lifts her work and what makes great art. “Time and passion. Resilience and determination.” Maria doesn’t hesitate, “I’m inspired by a different person every day. By the performances and creativity of…” she lists the creative pantheon. “It depends…It’s like asking someone what their favourite movie is! You can’t answer that.” Ironic, because this is a woman, who for me, not only embodies resilience and determination, but is also a true inspiration.
Joy Tanner is the Editor of Performers Magazine, and Performers on Set. She has voiced Candy Kong in Donkey Kong.
